false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173991498m/351219.jpg 351219 9 As some 9,000 people watched the Wallendas begin their high-wire act on July 6, 1944, a fire started on the sidewall of the big top at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The tent had been waterproofed with a mixture of 6,000 gallons of white gasoline and 18,000 pounds of paraffin; common practice for circuses at the time. In minutes, the entire tent was engulfed in flames. In the rush for the exits, people were trampled and burned--some beyond recognition. In the end, 167 were dead and 487 injured, of whom 140 required hospitalization. The city of Hartford, Connecticut, would never be the same. Stewart O'Nan brings his storytelling ability to the tragedy of <I>The Circus Fire</I>. <p>Several survivors said the one thing they will never forget about the circus fire as long as they live is the sound of the animals as they burned alive. But there were no animals.</p> O'Nan interviewed dozens of witnesses and examined police reports, newspaper accounts, and court documents while researching the fire. The result is an engrossing--though agonizingly painful--account of the great fire and its aftermath. He probes the tragedy's enduring mysteries--How did the fire start? Who are the unidentified victims? Who is Little Miss 1565?--and offers up conclusions of his own. He also provides remarkable vignettes of panic, heroism, and grief: Merle Evans and the band playing "The Stars and Stripes Forever," the circus disaster march, over and over; Bill Curlee, standing atop the wild animal chute throwing trapped children to safety; the Cote sisters, who made it home safely then broke down when asked why they were back so early. O'Nan tells their stories with compassion--albeit with a slight tendency toward the macabre. 1070046 12 6 2001 The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy total:217|5:51|4:84|3:60|2:17|1:5| 217 810 361 52 5 1 false false Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2000 Tue Jan 08 14:02:52 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 08 14:03:03 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 true false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Jan 11 12:24:42 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 11 12:27:16 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Mar 27 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Oct 28 09:34:47 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 09:35:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Aug 19 13:06:39 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 13:43:00 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Sun Mar 02 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 21 19:10:40 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 19 13:42:53 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Tue Jun 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 12:06:14 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 20:28:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Aug 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 15 14:15:35 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 14:38:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Fri Nov 14 18:52:09 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 15 13:43:09 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Fri Oct 31 07:24:28 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 31 07:24:28 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 14 08:49:30 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 14 09:03:13 -0700 2008 Isaac's Storm) as I like his nonfiction writing style. She recommended this book and when I found out it was a true a...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Aug 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 02 12:58:53 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 11:10:13 -0700 2008
O'Nan, normally a fiction writer, undertakes a massive project that doesn't ha...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 02 04:31:54 -0700 2008 Fri May 02 04:32:20 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat May 19 08:16:27 -0700 2007 Sat May 19 08:31:34 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 26 14:09:11 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 01 13:08:43 -0800 2007 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Aug 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 31 18:25:39 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 25 17:47:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue May 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 12:53:59 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 12:55:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Mar 17 17:47:10 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 24 08:41:11 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jun 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 09:55:29 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 03:28:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 05:26:56 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 05:29:53 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Aug 28 07:07:49 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 02 10:58:12 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=351219